Peak Name: Los Pinos Lookout
Distance: 0.5 miles
Date: November 24, 2017 (Sept 15, 2019)
Summit: 3,189 feet
When we were hiking out to Corte Madera, we considered also summiting the nearby Los Pinos Lookout Tower. But the route from the Espinosa trail followed a dirt road that had off-roaders using. Although there was a more direct route, it was a steep ascent, and we opted not to tackle it.
I debated how I wanted to return to summit this peak, as I am not a big fan of hiking on active roads. Instead, after summiting Long Valley Peak, I drove down to the Corral Canyon OHV area, passing the parking spot for the Espinosa trail. Continuing along the road, I kept driving until I approached the Four Corners trailhead. From there I made a right and continued up Los Pinos.
Near the summit, I found a nice place to park and hiked the .25 miles to the lookout tower and the summit. The tower is closed, so I wandered around the summit enjoying views.
Corte Madera’s sheer face is clearly visible in the distance.
I returned to my car and drove back down, passing several other off-roaders along the way.
Update: September 15, 2019
While I had considered fully hiking up to Los Pinos from the Espinoza saddle when I restarted my 100 Peak Challenge, the temperatures were not favorable. So, instead, Ted and I drove up toward the summit and would hike the last bit to make it count.
After working our way up the semi-paved road, thankfully only encountering one motorcycle, we pull over at the turn off to the summit. We hiked up the road. The Los Pinos Lookout tower was manned, and we were invited up.
We got a full tour of the tower and how it works. He shared some of the wildlife he has captured on his camera. It was quite a collection of critters.
We bid farewell and took the shortcut back to the car. This quickly little jaunt was my 64th peak of the 100 Peak Challenge!